Chapter 315 Public Opinion is Killing People
"Creating public opinion to pressure the Democrats in the southern states can help clear the suspicion of the next series of bills." Thousands of miles away in Rio de Janeiro, Sheffield explained the key to this operation to Edith Rockefeller with drooping eyelids, "If such bills are pushed into effect too quickly in a short period of time, it is likely to arouse suspicion, so a heavyweight judicial figure must be present to criticize this matter."
"Did you choose Alton Parker to keep things under control?" Edith Rockefeller asked with a smile, shaking her wine glass with one hand.
"Yes, the United Company has connections in the Democratic Party, so this is a better option." Sheffield nodded, his face full of fatigue. "In fact, there is a reason why we have to do this. Since the Civil War, the Republican Party's base has far exceeded that of the Democratic Party. With the increase in black voters, if the Democratic Party does not change its position, the gap between them and the Republican Party will become more and more obvious. After the Civil War, the Democratic Party has never won the total votes once, not even President Cleveland."
"In order to more surely win the electoral votes, the entire South cannot lose a single one, so we must find a way to deprive the votes of black people who are not on the same page as the Dixie people to prevent the loss of electoral votes?"
Edith Rockefeller may not be extremely smart, but she still knows a little about some political secrets. She knows that in the current indirect election of the federal government, the electoral votes are actually far more important than the one vote per person.
"That's right. Now it's all about maintaining the base in the southern states." Sheffield nodded, indicating that Edith Rockefeller was right.
In fact, decades later, the reason why the Democratic Party became a white left party was that the laws that secretly restricted the voting rights of black people in southern states were forcefully lifted by the federal government. At that time, the black population was larger, and after the restriction laws were lifted, it almost killed the Democratic Party.
Under that circumstance, the basic base of the southern states could no longer be maintained. In order to survive, the Democratic Party became what people thought of as a white left party a hundred years later, and was forced to compete with the Republican Party to see who was more internationalist and who supported immigration more.
"It seems that all this is for the sake of balance. If other companies knew about this, they would not object to this restriction." Edith Rockefeller knew very well that the relationship between major companies and political parties was one of both exploitation and vigilance, and there was no harmony at all.
For example, there is a limit on how much individuals can donate to elections, but there is no limit on what companies can donate to elections. They claim that this is a way to protect companies' freedom of expression, but the real purpose is obvious to everyone.
It is an unspoken rule that all major companies do not want a political party that is too powerful to emerge.
After Gail came out of Alton Parker's house, he felt relieved. This conservative leader of the Democratic Party finally agreed to this matter and took the initiative to put some pressure on some Southern Democrats.
Gail immediately called McHale, who was waiting in New Orleans, and told him the news, asking him to inform some Democrats about the situation so that they could be prepared.
Soon, Alton Parker wrote an article in the New York Times about his views on the black community in the Southern states. He expressed his anger as a senior judge at the procrastination and loopholes in the legal system in the Southern states, and mentioned the importance of judicial fairness and efficiency to the healthy development of a country.
Because Alton Parker is a conservative leader of the Democratic Party and an authority on the United States legal system, his statement on this matter has aroused a heated response and has been reprinted by major newspapers. Many newspapers, especially those supporting Republican policies, have a gloating mentality and emphasized Alton Parker's identity as a Democrat, saying, "Look, the Democratic Party's rednecks are acting like this, even the authorities of their own party can't stand it."
This was just the beginning. Former President Cleveland and former Secretary of State Olney, who were also conservatives, also expressed their support for Alton Parker in the following two days. A number of Democratic Party bigwigs expressed their views on the matter, which seemed to make those who gloated over the misfortune see signs of internal division in the Democratic Party. At this time, they added fuel to the flames and put pressure on Democrats in southern states.
"Dear McHale, although it seems to be a good time to use pressure to push through the restrictive bill, this timing is not the best time. If the southern states come to a consensus and introduce the restrictive bill at the same time, it will be too obvious to outsiders. The timing is good but it is far from enough." Holding the telegram sent from Rio de Janeiro in his hand, McHale understood the meaning of the mastermind behind the scenes word by word.
"New Orleans is the center of the South and plays a leading role in the southern states. We should first prepare the blueprint of the restriction bill in Louisiana and pass it in this state first. As for other states, there is no need to rush. We should create the illusion that this bill was passed under duress, rather than as if it was passed happily after a long wait. This can arouse the unity of Dixie people."
This operation, which seems like paranoia, is actually very similar to the fan-washing of fans in fan circles. Unnecessary fans are abandoned, and the only ones left are voters who fanatically support the Democratic Party. If you want to stabilize the Democratic Party's base in the South, you have to create such an environment. In the eyes of Southern citizens, the Democratic Party will have an image of being in trouble and urgently needing their support, creating an environment in which Dixie people and Democrats support each other.
This mentality is most evident in Texas, because although Texas in this history has a stronger presence than in the original history, it has not suffered much harm from the war, joined the war last, and has preserved its strength the most. Texans do not have this victim mentality. The southern states with this mentality the most are New Orleans, the largest city before the Civil War, and Louisiana, which was prosperous at the time.
McHale spent the whole day on the phone and on the telegram. The mastermind was thousands of miles away, and the pioneer was still in the north and had not returned. He was the only one who stayed at the base camp and had time to take on the responsibility of communicating with the Louisiana Democrats.
"Hey, this is much harder than doing business!" McHale laughed bitterly, looked around the nearby scenery to relieve his stress, and finally stood up and said to the outside, "Give me a letter from the governor. I want to meet with him."
In fact, it is just that McHale did not take the initiative to come to the door. Now the Democrats in Louisiana are also discussing the recent turmoil. They believe that the Yankees are deliberately looking for trouble and are prepared to ignore this public pressure and fight to the end.
After McHale made the invitation, these Democrats thought that McHale was representing the United Company and wanted to share the hardships with them.
The Democratic Party's steadfast financial backers wanted to talk to them, so of course they had to obey. In the evening, some important Democratic figures in Louisiana came to their door.
"William is currently on a foreign inspection trip in Rio de Janeiro and cannot come back, but I have already told him about this matter. I have not concealed the whole cause and effect of this matter." When McHale saw the visitor, he spoke directly to Governor Lange Hunter, "Mr. Hunter, some important figures, such as Alton Parker, former President Cleveland, and former Secretary of State Olney, have already expressed their views on this matter. If we do not respond, it may cause a split in the Democratic Party, which is something no one wants to see."
"I would rather the Democratic Party split than be responsible to our voters," Langehunt flatly refused, "The vast majority of Dixie people will not agree to any kind of compromise."
"Actually, the response doesn't necessarily mean compromise. Under this kind of pressure, there is still a way to solve the problem." McHale lowered his voice and said, "Didn't the Republicans and some Yankee newspapers say that we ignored black people? Judge Alton Parker believes that there are legal loopholes in many states. In fact, if these two things are put together, it's very interesting. If handled properly, it can even be beneficial to the Democratic Party. Since black women have been violated for a long time, then we will solve this matter and give an explanation to the citizens. We will arrest as many criminals as possible. I'm afraid that some people will really be scared by then."
McHale finally showed his true colors at this time, saying that he could introduce a bill to express his determination to improve the legal loopholes in the past under the accusations from all sides. Anyway, this problem was caused by black people. So deal with black people! Solve the source of the whole incident.
"Will this solve the problem?" Langerhunt thought for a long time and asked, "This is a solution, but will we still be blamed?"
"William said in the telegram that even if some social problems arise as a result, it has nothing to do with the Democratic Party. In this whole incident, no party involved is innocent. It is public opinion that forces the Democrats to make up their minds to solve this problem. Even if there may be some sequelae in the end, public opinion is one of the culprits." McHale has made it very clear, "It is public opinion that is killing people!"
The two sides talked for a full hour, and after Langehunt left, they had reached a consensus on how to deal with this public opinion attack.
By the next day, a Democratic member of the state legislature told the media that many Democratic members, including the governor, had been discussing how to deal with the matter in recent days, but they felt that a gentle approach should be adopted.
As soon as this rumor spread, major newspapers seized the opportunity to criticize it, believing that the Louisiana State Legislature was deliberately downplaying the incident. They called on public opinion to force the Louisiana State Legislature to come up with a solution that would satisfy the citizens. Public opinion kept pressing the issue, putting Louisiana in the spotlight.
(End of this chapter)
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